The Story of Food Waste

A third of the good produced in the world is produced for nothing, as it is wasted.

The Big Food Waste

10 million tonnes of food waste is produced every year, this is 1/3 of the food produced on the planet which is thrown away without being consumed. This is equivalent to 20 to 30 kg of food thrown away per person per year in France, including 7 kg still packaged.

Food is perishable

630 million euros in new products are destroyed each year, and companies are looking for innovative solutions to reduce food waste. So let’s put the food waste subject on the table!

In other words, a third of the energy and resources needed to produce, transport and distribute our food are thrown in the trash! Waste is an ecological, social and economic nonsense.

Ecological and environmental nonsense

The food waste produced by human beings is so large it would be ranking as the third 3rd largest emitter of greenhouse gases after China and the USA. Food production is the main emitter of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere today already, and 1/3 of it is not necessary.

As a result, every time you throw some of your food away, it’s CO2 emitted into the atmosphere for nothing. And therefore a brake on the fight against global warming could be easily achieved simply by reducing our food waste.

Social consequences

The food thrown away in France could feed 10 million people. It’s more than the number of wasted products in the world. More than half of the products thrown away are damaged or oversized fruits and vegetables. These percentages vary according to geographic areas and business sectors. People in need in France, which stands at 8.8 million people, could be fed by just using all this food waste.

Economic impacts

Waste costs more each year than the hole in Social Security. It’s a fact as exprts estimate that food waste costs 16 billion euros each year.

From the field to the plate, is it possible? Food waste is a problem that affects every link in the food chain: from producer to consumer to distributor. The costs of all this waste in the world is enormous.

This waste has an economic, environmental and social cost. The FAO estimates that the direct economic cost of lost or wasted products is 900 billion euros per year. If we add the environmental and social cost, it is 2340 billion euros.

The main causes of food waste are:

Short expiration dates

Storage

Transport

Minor faults and aesthetic criteria

Losses related to the preparation

Forgotten in the fridge

Poor anticipation

Order errors

As we can see from the list above, there are many possible reasons why food is wasted, and we clearly will never reach a zero waste situation. But 1/3 wasted is a huge percentage to lose and it is clear as well that this number can be improved. Using more effective junk removal techniques, better forecasting, better preservation methods and focusing on food that are less perishable are some options.